How to Make Homemade Chicken Broth for Great Flavor & More Nutrition

This homemade chicken broth recipe serves as the base for many great dishes, including the best homemade chicken soup. If you’ve never made homemade chicken broth, you need to add it to your recipe routine. It’s a great way to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your chicken dinner into extra meals.

When I make broth, I usually start with chicken carcass leftover from a whole roasted chicken or a stewing hen. (See below.) You can also use a combination of bony parts like backs, necks, wings and the always awesome chicken feet. Chewy bits are good. You want to slow cook and break down all that connective tissue and the boney bits to get the maximum amount of nutrients. Heck, I’ve even made full flavored delicious homemade broth with nothing but chicken feet. (Don’t tell my mother-in-law. She’s been scared to eat my soup since she found out I use chicken feet.)

Why make Homemade Chicken Broth?

It’s easy, and it’s delicious.

You save money. Free range and organic chickens are fairly expensive, so I want to get as many meals as possible from each bird.

Turn those chewy and boney bits into good food.

Homemade chicken broth is a health food. It’s loaded with gelatin (especially if you use feet and/or pastured chicken parts), an assortment of minerals, chondroitin sulfate (like those high priced joint supplements) and protein.

Do I Have to Use Chicken Feet in my Homemade Chicken Broth?

No, but they are a great way to bump up the gelatin/collagen content of your broth. People pay big bucks for collagen supplements. Those tough little chicken tootsies are loaded with gelatin, which is great for tummy troubles like stomach bugs. Bone broth also aids digestion.

If you raise your own chickens, you can get the feet for free. If you get your chickens from a local grower, odds are they’ll be willing to throw in the chicken feet at a nominal cost because many people don’t know how to use them.

A frozen block of chicken feet. Smack on counter to break up or pry off feet as needed.

But What About the Chicken Poop?

Chicken feet are coated with a thick layer of tough skin, and the nails on the foot are covered in sheaths. Usually feet are skinned right away when the bird is being plucked, and the nail sheaths are pulled off. This means that no part of the foot that was in direct contact with chicken poop or other questionable items goes into your homemade chicken soup.

The first time I scored a bag of chicken feet from a local friend, they were frozen into a big “chicken-feet-sicle”. Thankfully, with a few bangs on the counter, I knocked loose enough for a batch of soup.

What’s a Stewing Hen?

A stewing hen is an older hen that’s been retired from laying. Many egg laying chicken breeds don’t have a lot of meat on the carcass, so when you butcher there’s not a lot to make a meal. Older birds (hens and cocks) also tend to be tougher. The good news is that older birds are usually quite flavorful.

Long, slow cooking with plenty of liquid (either simmering or braising) will make these older birds more palatable. Just cut the carcass into pieces and simmer for 6-8 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone. Pick off the meat and use it in your recipe(s) of choice, such as chicken fajitas, chicken soup, chicken casserole, chicken pot pie, etc.

Adding vinegar to your homemade chicken broth helps to draw the minerals out of the bones. The longer the cooking time, the richer and more flavorful the broth will be.

A proper chicken broth will jiggle with gelatin when chilled. (Stewing birds and chicken feet improve your odds of gelling.) If you’re using CAFO chicken, you may not be able to get your broth to gel. Chickens that get a chance to run around use their bones and connective tissues more, whereas confined chickens focus on growing meat.

It's easy to see if your homemade chicken broth has a lot of gelatin, because it will gel as it cools.

Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe

Ingredients

1 stewing bird or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones and wings

Place chicken in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar, herbs and veggies. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Turn on heat cover and bring to a simmer. (You can also do this in a crockpot.)

Let simmer for at least 6 to 8 hours (up to 24 hours). Add more water if needed to keep the carcass covered and make sure your stock doesn’t cook dry. (Make sure to top off the water if you’re going to leave it on the stove top overnight.)

If I’m cooking a whole bird for stock, I pick the meat off the bones at around the eight hour mark. To remove chicken pieces, use a slotted spoon or tongs to lift bird hunks out of the broth. Let cool and remove chicken meat from the bones. Return the carcass to the pot to continue simmering.

Instructions

Place chicken in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar, herbs and veggies. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Turn on heat cover and bring to a simmer. (You can also do this in a crockpot.)

Let simmer for at least 6 to 8 hours (up to 24 hours). Add more water if needed to keep the carcass covered and make sure your stock doesn’t cook dry. (Make sure to top off the water if you’re going to leave it on the stove top overnight.)

If I’m cooking a whole bird for stock, I pick the meat off the bones at around the eight hour mark. To remove chicken pieces, use a slotted spoon or tongs to lift bird hunks out of the broth. Let cool and remove chicken meat from the bones. Return the carcass to the pot to continue simmering.

When you’re finished cooking your homemade chicken broth, strain the stock into a large bowl or other container. Place the container in the refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off the fat and use it for cooking. (Check out the schmaltz post for more info on rendered chicken fat.)

Quick Soup Recipes with Chicken Broth

For simple chicken soup, I dice up some fresh carrots, onions and celery; mince a couple of cloves of fresh garlic and toss those in; and clean the meat off the bones and chop it into bite sized chunks. I add some salt, pepper and curry powder for seasonings. Finish it with drop egg noodles or noodles of your choice.

To make drop noodles, simply beat several eggs (in this case I used four) and then mix in enough flour to form stiff dough. Drop by spoonfuls into gently simmering soup, stirring occasionally so they don't stick together.

If you like, you can pair your homemade chicken soup up with a salad or homemade bread. Check out “13 Homemade Bread Recipes” for more ideas.

Freeze Drying Chicken Broth

To store homemade chicken broth for longer periods, I usually freeze or freeze dry. (Homemade broth may also be pressure canned. Use 1 inch of headspace and process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes, at ten pounds pressure.) To freeze, I place the homemade broth in freezer safe containers with about an inch of headspace, label and date. I try to use frozen broth within about six months.

To freeze dry homemade chicken broth, I chill the broth and spread it evenly on my freeze dryer trays. I do use pan liners so the broth releases easily from the pans after drying. I don't recommend freezing it in ice cubes trays and then freeze drying the ice cubes, as the cubes will stay intact during the freeze drying process and the centers are unlikely to freeze dry properly. (You could use mini ice cube molds. Just keep the diameter under half an inch.)

Loading the chicken broth on trays for freeze drying.

The trays get loaded into the freeze dryer and I fire up the automatic cycle. Since broth is high in moisture, it usually takes at least 30 hours, depending on the amount of broth. When freeze dried, the broth texture is similar to Styrofoam (if the trays were full) and vellum (if the broth was thinner in the trays). I store the freeze dried chicken broth in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, and keep a small jar in the fridge for regular use. It makes a great low salt chicken bullion.

Here's a video of the homemade chicken broth before and after freeze drying.

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You have a root cellar! I am oh so jealous.They were such a common thing in northern Minnesota where I grew up. Laurie, I must say this is one of the best broth postings I have come across. Though you really got me laughing over the bag of chicken feet making me remember our hog butchering day last Fall….go here http://seedsofnutrition.com/?p=4326 to see my hog legs if you haven't seen it yet.I really like your use of a jelly bag for straining. I'm going to have to purchase one. That beats cheese cloth and other methods.

As I mentioned in Kelly's comments, I have taken to cooking the feet separate from the meaty bones to avoid getting toenails in my soup (not a big deal to us, but sometimes freaks out guests).

Martha, you want to make sure to skin the feet because even in the best of conditions (these chickens had plenty of room to run outside in open grass) they run through things that I wouldn't want to put in my mouth (chicken poop, for starters :-). Removing the skin gets rid of everything that was in contact with the ground, etc. The toenails even have outer casings that pop right off. Occasionally you may find a sort of callus/gall on the bottom of the foot where the bird was injured at some point but it created discolored scar tissue. This can be trimmed off and the rest of the foot used. This is more common with older birds, for instance retired laying hens. The older birds actually make the best broth because they've had more time to build up their bones/cartilage/skeletal structure.

Hey All,Have you ever even considered what the REAL chicken's feet look like just going about their daily "business?"These pictures are wonderful and I can't wait to find a supplier and make some really good broth.I used to watch my grandma slaughter chickens and then take them inside to de-feather them. The stench was overwhelming. Already cut and skinned is nothing in comparison.Be grateful that you are able to get such a product and render it fit and wholesome for your family.

I am well aware of what chicken do every day, as I was raised on a farm where we raised large flocks of chickens, geese and ducks for many years. I'd estimate I've helped butcher several hundred birds over time. I'd usually get stuck with skinning the insides of the gizzards, among other tasks. I personally didn't find the smell any worse than plenty of other farm smells.

I am very grateful to my neighbors for sharing their birds, and in return I often barter produce I've raised in my garden. Country neighbors are the best!

Awesome stock Laurie! Have you ever heard that the claws have to be clipped off on the chicken feet? My friend Tara who lives here in my area told me you should clip them off. Sadly, I still have not gotten around to using my feet, which are in the freezer, for stock because I've been wondering how to deal with the claws and I don't have any kind of implement to clip them.

I need to get around and look at all your posts and many other of the blogs I love. I have been so behind on that. Thanks for sharing this great post about a very important activity more people should be doing in the kitchen. 🙂

I just now seen your fb page & blog… so glad. I've got a homegrown roosters with carrots, onions, cerlery & seasoning cookin away in a pot for dinner (chicken a' la king) & I was thinkin that was how I could make my own stock 🙂

There’s nothing wrong with getting all you can out of a rotisserie chicken by making broth with the carcass, but if you can get access to a pastured bird and feet, the results will be a superior product. The feet are loaded with connective tissue, which breaks down during simmering to enrich the broth. Pastured birds also have a much wider diet, introducing more trace minerals to the broth. I’ve made broth with a rotisserie chicken carcass, and in most cases it barely gels when cooled. When the feet are added, the broth will solidify let set up jello.

I just make bone broth with feet and carcasses. I’ll add the same vegetables as for broth and use it in place of regular broth for added nutrition. When I harvest older hens and roosters, I pressure can the meat. It turns out lovely and tender.